Category: News/Accolades

Business Horizons is looking for Iowa high school students (grades 9-12) to join in the fun this summer at Business Horizons 2018! During the week-long program, students from across the state team up and take part in exciting competitions as they navigate the world of business and entrepreneurship alongside Iowa professionals. Students gain hands-on experience, receive advice from expert speakers, explore career options in Iowa and develop their leadership and professional skills. Business Horizons provides valuable college and career experience for all students, regardless of career interest. Participants can also earn college credit and a Central College scholarship by attending.

Sponsored by the Community Bankers of Iowa, the Money Smart poster contest provides students in grades 2-6 with the chance to submit posters that depict “Why is it important to know about money?” for the chance to win a certificate of deposit (CD).

Iowa student Kaylee Lowe and her teacher Kathy Paul each received at $250 award for participating in the Money Smart Cache! contest. One statewide prize is awarded each year from Iowa Jump$tart to an Iowa student and teacher who participate in the contest. Kaylee is a student at North Union High School in Armstrong, Iowa. Kathy is the family and consumer science teacher at the school.

Professional Educators of Iowa (PEI) is offering three personal finance courses this summer especially for educators, which also offer the opportunity to earn one credit for licensure renewal for each course. The first course, Teaching STEM Career Readiness and Financial Education, will be offered June 18-19. The second course, Teaching 21st Century Financial Literacy, will be offered June 25-26. The third course, Personal Financial Literacy for Educators, will be offered July 16-17. All courses will be held at the PEI Conference Center at 974 73rd Street, Suite 30 in West Des Moines. Click here to register online.

Hope Dohlman, an eleventh-grader at Crestwood High School, has won the statewide financial literacy essay contest for Money Smart Week Iowa and has been named Iowa’s 2018 Money Smart Kid. Dohlman also received $1,000 from the Iowa Bankers Association to put towards her college education.

“Knowing how natural disasters can affect your financial health and vice versa, is an important aspect of financial education, and it is exciting to see these students learn about that relationship through this essay contest,” said Lori Ristau, vice president of marketing and communications at the Iowa Bankers Association. “Iowa banks are committed to helping Iowans reach their financial goals, and providing access to financial education resources through programs like the Money Smart Week Kid essay contest is just one of the many ways banks are helping their communities. We are pleased to sponsor this fun and educational opportunity for Iowa students on behalf of our member banks.”

Approximately 45 students from across the state participated in the essay contest. To be eligible, students had to be in grades seventh through eleventh and submit a 400-word essay. The essay asked students to write a brief newspaper article describing the potential devastating effects of a natural disaster on a family’s financial situation. Students were also asked to include tips and resources for readers to help prepare them for a potential future unexpected crisis.

The top five essay finalists also participated in an interview with contest judges. From those finalists, Hope Dohlman was selected to be the 2018 Money Smart Kid.

“To be better prepared, all families should establish an emergency savings program,” Dohlman stated in her award-winning essay about a hypothetical vehicle accident during a snowstorm. “By having these emergency funds set aside, families can be better prepared to pay the unexpected medical bills and also fund a small portion of the repair or replacement of their vehicle.”

On May 11th, a press release from the Iowa Department of Education revealed the approval of new standards for Social Studies. Members of the State Board of Education adopted the new statewide social studies standards. Updating the standards was a process that began over a year ago. The press release reports that the new social studies standards will:

Weave in Iowa history and financial literacy, which were not reflected in the previous social studies standards.

1. Know what you spend. Carry a small spiral notebook for a month and write down everything you buy with cash or debit cards. Other spending will show up in your checkbook register or credit card statement. 2. Spend less than you make. If you find that you spend more than you make, you will need to either make more or spend less. The option of using credit […]

Some people who have fluctuating monthly incomes find it difficult to know how to set up a monthly budget. Let me give you some advice on how that is done. It may be a bit more difficult to figure it out, but with a little planning and forethought it is certainly within your reach to do. Let’s break it down into three steps: Step 1. Determine how much money […]